BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WORKERS at the Ministry of Community Development were taken aback yesterday morning (Apr. 14) after discovering their Victoria Road office was once again the target of vandalism.
Employees were horrified at the piles of debris and garbage as well as shattered glass from several smashed window panes that met them upon their arrival to work.
SKNVibes interviewed several ministry workers who noted nothing was stolen because the perpetrators were unable to enter the building.
“The cleaner was here before 7:00 a.m. and she was the first to see. When more of us arrived, we called the police and they came around 7:30,” said one employee.
“Someone threw a stone in one of the rooms through the window but, otherwise, all the damage was what you saw outside. Our burglar bars stopped them from getting in, so it’s not as bad as it could have been.”
Other employees confirmed this was the only the latest in a long string of similar incidents.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had a situation like this, but it occurs more frequently during the basketball season. We have a lot of problems in that time.
“We see lots of garbage being thrown over, windows being broken, and that sort of thing. It happens because people want access to the sensitive information we have about families and communities,” they explained.
Prior to December 2008, the offices of the Child Probation and Welfare Department were located adjacent to Basketball City. They moved to another building on Victoria Road, leaving Community Development, Gender Affairs and the staff of the Basic Needs Trust Fund in that space.
A senior ministry official told SKNVibes that the Probation Office had been a constant target of vandalism in its old location, and that it was still under the same threat.
“When those departments were here, their officers were targeted and computers containing private, sensitive information were stolen. They moved a while ago and people still come to Basketball City trying to get the data.
“They don’t get in because we have the bars. But the new building was broken into once last year and three computers were stolen. So, it’s obvious the problem still exists,” the official added.
Speaking to SKNVibes, Inspector Vaughan Henderson confirmed that police investigations into the incidence of “malicious damage” are ongoing.
